Hands-free hair and body dryer that allows a wide range of motion

ABSTRACT

A hands-free dryer moves over a wide range of angles in order to dry the surface of a person&#39;s hair or body. The position of the dryer is controlled by a preprogrammed or programmable control unit freeing a user to use their hands to complete other activities.

RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of priority of pendingpatent application 60/432,664 filed on Dec. 12, 2002, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Hair dryers have existed for a number of years. Existing hairdryers used in the home are held by the hand and moved over the surfaceof a person's hair or skin to allow warm air exiting the dryer to drythe hair or skin.

[0003] An aging population finds it increasingly difficult to holdanything by hand, much less in a way necessary to effectively dry hairor skin. That is, it is sometimes difficult to hold existing dryerssteady for the period of time needed to dry the hair or skin.

[0004] Regardless of age, it is many times inconvenient for someone whois dressing to use one or both hands to hold a hair dryer. For example,ladies desire to put on makeup and men desire to fix their ties, both ofwhich may require two hands.

[0005] Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a way to dry the hair orskin without the need to hold a hair dryer while a person is engaged inanother action or activity.

[0006] Hands-free, commercial dryers are available. However, these aretoo expensive for the average household and usually require a person toplace her head under and/or into such a dryer while remaining relativelymotionless. Motion, however, is just what occurs when a person rushes toget dressed.

[0007] Accordingly, it is also desirable to provide a hands-free hairand body dryer which allows a person a wide range of motion yet stillmanages to dry the hair or skin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1 depicts a simplified drawing of a dryer according toembodiments of the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 2 depicts a simplified drawing of a dryer according to yetother embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a hair and body dryer 1comprising elevation and securing means 4 (collectively referred to as“securing means”), first movement means 2, second movement means 3,power supply means 7, control means 6 and air diffuser means 5, amongother elements.

[0011] Advantageously, the first movement means 2 allows the dryer 1, inparticular the outer circumference 8 of the diffuser means 5, to bemoved left, right, up or down in order to position the diffuser 5 overdifferent parts of the surface of a person's head or body. The firstmovement means 2 may comprise a pivoting mechanism 2 a or the like tomove the dryer 1 to a desired position.

[0012] To further position the diffuser 5, second movement means 3 mayalso be incorporated. The second movement means 3 may also comprise apivoting mechanism 3 a to further allow the dryer 1 and diffuser 5 to bepositioned over different parts of the surface of the head and body.

[0013] The first and second movement means 2, 2 a, and 3, 3 a areoperable to move the dryer 1 over a wide range of angles, for example, 0to 35 degrees, 0 to 90 degrees, 0 to 180 degrees or even 0 to 360degrees. These ranges are by way of example only. Other ranges are alsopossible, e.g., some range that covers less than 0 to 35 degrees. Withthis wide range of angles, the dryer 1 is capable of drying the surfaceof the hair and skin of a person as that person moves through a widerange of angles as he or she, for example, is dressing or putting onmakeup. In comparison, though some existing commercial hair dryers arecapable of moving in a side-to-side or up and down direction, they arenot capable of moving over a wide range of angles, as is the dryer 1 ofthe present invention.

[0014] Though nothing prevents a user from touching both movement means2, 2 a and 3, 3 a, in one embodiment of the invention the movement ofthese means (and therefore the position of the diffuser 5) is controlledwithout the need for such contact or access by a user (discussed below).

[0015] The body and component parts of the dryer 1 may comprise alightweight material making the overall weight of the dryer 1 capable ofbeing held by hand if desirable by a user.

[0016]FIG. 1 also shows removable securing means 4 for securing thedryer 1 to another object, such as a chair, pole, etc., for support. Thesecuring means 4 may comprise a heavy-duty plastic clip, or acombination of a receptacle and main pole which allows the dryer 1 tomove up and down in a vertical motion in order to raise the height ofthe dryer 1, to name just a few examples.

[0017] In an alternative embodiment, the base 4 a of the dryer 1 may beweighted to allow the dryer to stand independently (i.e., without theneed to be attached to a pole, chair, etc.) while the dryer 1 oscillatesthrough a wide range of angles.

[0018] Also shown is control means 6. Control means 6 may comprise aremovable or built-in remote control for controlling the power on/offfunctions of the dryer 1, and/or controlling the initiation, cessationand positioning of the movement means 2, 2 a and 3, 3 a. In more detail,control means 6 may comprise circuitry or the like which is programmed(or programmable) to send instructions to both movement means 2, 2 a, 3,3 a that result in an associated movement of lower body 2 b of the dryer1 or upper body 3 b of the dryer 1 through a wide range of angles. Eachmovement of lower or upper body 2 b, 3 b results in a new position ofdiffuser 5 over a person's head or body.

[0019] In addition, the control means 6 may comprise an infrared orradio frequency transceiver for detecting the presence or absence of auser, i.e., whether a user remains close enough to the dryer 1 so thatthe dryer 1 remains on. For example, if a person walks a far enoughdistance away from the dryer 1, the control means 6 may detect suchmovement and send a signal to the power source of the dryer 1 in orderto shut the dryer off.

[0020] In addition, the control means 6 may comprise a timer which,regardless of the movement of a user, will track the amount of time thedryer 1 has been operating and automatically shut the dryer off if itexceeds a certain threshold (e.g., 15 minutes).

[0021] The dryer 1 may be operated with AC or DC power supplies whichare a part of the power supply means 7. The power supply means 7 mayalso comprise a retractable power cord which is capable of changing itslength as the dryer 1 moves from side to side, or up or down as the casemay be. It is also capable of retracting entirely if it is to bedisconnected from its present power source and moved to a differentlocation.

[0022] Though not shown in FIG. 1, the dryer 1 may also comprise amirror placed on its surface to allow a user to view the top, back orsides of the head or body (sometimes in conjunction with a secondmirror).

[0023] Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown another embodiment of thepresent invention. The dryer 10 shown in FIG. 2 adds a muffling means 9which may comprise a baffling structure 12 made of a heat tolerant orheat resistant material capable of withstanding the temperatures of theair which exits from the air diffuser 5. This muffler means 9 is capableof being detached completely or switched into and out of the path of theair exiting the diffuser 5 by means of optional hinging means 11 or thelike. The purpose of the baffling structure 12 is to reduce the noisewhich results from the air leaving the air diffuser 5 or from the motor(not shown in FIG. 2) used to operate the dryer 10. Such noise mayinterfere with the ability of a user to hear a phone or doorbell ring.

[0024] In yet an additional embodiment of the present invention, themuffler means 9 may be made of a heat sensitive material which iscapable of changing color depending on the temperature of the material.For example, the material may change from a darker color to a lightercolor when the temperature of the material reaches a certain threshold.This color change may act as a warning to a user of the dryer 10 thatthe temperature of the muffler 9 is reaching a dangerous level andshould be removed.

[0025] In still another embodiment of the present invention, the controlmeans 6 contains sensors and appropriate circuitry to measure theinternal temperature of the dryer 1 including the muffler 9 in order todetermine whether to disconnect the dryer 1 from its power supply 7 inorder to meet United Laboratories specifications or the like and toprevent the dryer 10 from malfunctioning or catching fire.

[0026] The discussion above has presented some examples of the presentinvention. Modifications may be made without departing from the spiritand the scope of the present invention, the scope of which is moreclosely defined by the claims which follow.

We claim:
 1. A dryer comprising: a diffuser for allowing air to exit inorder to dry a surface; movement means for moving the diffuser over awide range of angles in order to dry different parts of the surface; andcontrol means for sending instructions to the movement means in order tocontrol the movement of the movement means over the wide range ofangles.
 2. The dryer as in claim 1 further comprising securing means forsecuring the dryer to an object for support.
 3. The dryer as in claim 1wherein the wide range of angles comprises a range selected from thegroup consisting of 0 to 35 degrees, 0 to 90 degrees, 0 to 180 degrees,0 to 360 degrees.
 4. The dryer as in claim 1 wherein the control meansfurther comprises a transceiver for detecting the presence or absence ofa user.
 5. The dryer as in claim 1 wherein the control means ispreprogrammed to control movement of the movement means through the widerange of angles.
 6. The dryer as in claim 1 wherein the control meanscomprises programmable control means for controlling the movement of themovement means through the wide range of angles.
 7. The dryer as inclaim 1 wherein the dryer is made of a lightweight material.
 8. Thedryer as in claim 1 further comprising muffler means for reducing noisemade by the dryer.
 9. The dryer as in claim 8 wherein the muffler meansis made of a heat sensitive material.
 10. The dryer as in claim 8wherein the muffler means is made of a heat resistant or heat tolerantmaterial.
 11. The dryer as in claim 1 wherein the control means furthercomprises a removal remote control.
 12. The dryer as in claim 1 furthercomprising a retractable power cord.
 13. The dryer as in claim 1 whereinthe control means further comprise a timer for determining how long thedryer has been operating.
 14. The dryer as in claim 1 wherein thecontrol means is operable to send the instructions to the movement meanswithout the need for a user to access the control means.